Ch.95The Turkey–Kurdish Conflict

* * *

I shouldn’t be believed for the predictions I’ve made so far.

I only predicted Japan’s major earthquake and where oil would burst.

What else have I predicted?

Anyway, these things could just be lucky guesses.

“So you’re saying this will be World War II??”

“Then how many troops should we mobilize?”

The council members were seriously contemplating this.

Ah, I’ve made a slip of the tongue.

“No, well, um. First of all, couldn’t a great war of similar scale happen? It’s a matter of possibility. Surely France won’t be turned communist by Communist Germany. We must always be prepared. That’s what I’m saying.”

“Are you saying France will become a communist regime in World War II?”

“No, that’s not what I said.”

It would be troublesome if these people actually believed this.

What if they take this so seriously, but Communist Germany turns out to be all show and no substance?

Or what if wars break out separately?

They shouldn’t blindly believe what I say.

Turkey needs to be left alone since it should serve as a bridgehead for Mediterranean expansion toward Italy or Greece.

“A second war. Hmm.”

“Look. Wait and see. This is hypothetical. If. Russia experienced a revolution during World War I. So we need to be careful and consider various possibilities.”

This excuse should be enough.

“Hmm. I understand what you mean.”

“We were discussing the Kurdish issue in the first place, weren’t we? War matters come later. For now, just say we’ll provide medical support. If they’re really going to seek independence, that is.”

It makes no sense for us to help them if they’re fighting for independence.

What about places like Syria or Iraq?

Kurds in those regions, as well as other ethnic groups in British and French territories, will whine for help too.

That’s not happening.

“What should we tell the Turkish side?”

“Let’s just be honest. The Kurds were simply trying to use me to get support. Isn’t that right?”

Seeing how the Kurds went so far as to mention me while requesting support, it seems they’ve already started an armed independence movement.

I can see exactly what’s happening.

I can see this terrible situation unfolding.

That’s why they desperately mentioned me too.

“Yes, Your Majesty. If we’re not aiming to target Turkey using the Kurds as a pretext, then honestly, we have no excuse not to join Turkey in suppressing the Kurds.”

Right. Come to think of it, that’s true.

This is truly outrageous. How dare they speak of me like that?

They even went so far as to mention me, who’s trying to become a figurehead Tsar?

“This is outrageous. Then there’s no reason to hide anything.”

Won’t Atatürk be angry when he learns about this?

He might even lead troops himself.

“Then should we honestly tell Turkey?”

“Yes. Let’s be honest. There’s no reason to hide it. Since they gave us Constantinople, we should reinforce that Russia is Turkey’s friend. Ah, wait a moment.”

“Yes?”

“Didn’t we develop new weapons? Let’s have Turkey test them out.”

While we’re at it, wouldn’t it be good to experiment with tanks and aircraft too?

Since we haven’t officially started a war, it might be better to test them in Turkey.

I’m sorry to the Kurdish people, but we need to test our weapons.

“Ah, that’s a good idea. Since weapons are most useful in war, we should provide weapons and see how our tanks and aircraft perform.”

No, wait a moment.

I raised my hand slightly and continued.

“And let’s provide weapons to the Kurds too.”

“Weren’t we only sending medical personnel?”

Come on. How can we test performance if we only send medical personnel?

We should give one side our older weapons for testing.

“We can just hand over some older weapons. Since the quality of weapons is different from the start, Turkey won’t complain. Ah, couldn’t we give them what Britain and France provided to us?”

We gave Chen Jiongming some new weapons, but we still have plenty of Mosin-Nagant rifles and French and British weapons, excluding those.

We could throw some of those to the Kurds.

“That’s a good idea. If we want to test weapon performance, that would be better. The White Army will follow Your Majesty’s wishes.”

That should be enough.

It’s fortunate that I was here this time.

If I hadn’t attended the Duma and was just playing around, well, we wouldn’t have gone to war to conquer Turkey, but there might have been talk of punishing the Kurds for trying to use the Tsarina’s authority, and things could have escalated.

Of course, other council members besides the White Army would have talked them out of it.

Atatürk should have kept this more confidential.

What would they do without me?

Anyway, since it’s reached our ears, let Atatürk suffer a bit too.

Yes.

This is what I call the “kill each other” operation.

* * *

Ankara, Turkey

The Kurdish support issue was conveyed to the Turkish government through the Russian ambassador exactly as discussed.

When İsmet İnönü informed Atatürk of this news, he was understandably outraged.

“How dare they ask Russia for help?”

The Kurds were already waging an armed independence struggle, enough to warrant sending troops immediately.

This was happening earlier than in actual history due to Turkey’s weakened state.

Atatürk was already irritated by the Kurds’ armed struggle, and now he was even more furious that Russia had become involved.

Weren’t they openly trying to cling to Russia for independence?

He wondered what made them so bold, suspecting they had acted believing Russia would help them.

Even if that wasn’t the case, he couldn’t leave them alone after they had requested help from Russia.

“At least Russia informed us, which is fortunate.”

“Ha, I wonder if that’s really fortunate.”

Why would they inform us?

Current Russia isn’t a country run by the Tsar alone.

“Anyway, wouldn’t it have been troublesome if Russia had intervened on the Kurds’ side?”

That’s true.

Does this mean the Tsarina truly wants to keep Turkey as an ally?

Russia must have millions of elite troops strengthened by civil war. Honestly, isn’t this the perfect opportunity to swallow Anatolia?

Yet instead of using the Kurds as a pretext to invade, they’re offering to help us.

I don’t like that they’re sending medical personnel to the Kurds, but I suppose they need to save face too.

“Still, sending medical personnel is…”

Isn’t this giving the Kurds hope to survive longer and continue troubling Turkey?

“They had their circumstances too. But in exchange, we have weapons provided by the Russian army.”

“Aren’t weapons going to the Kurdish side too?”

“Officers dispatched to the field report that several trucks with Russian flags entered Mount Ararat.”

So what are they trying to do? Are they helping both sides after all?

Was it a lie that they want Turkey to remain Russia’s ally?

Are they planning to push into Turkey after annexing Pontic Greeks?

“Huh, are they just telling us to kill each other?”

“The Russian ambassador says the weapons going to the Kurdish side are all outdated models from the civil war era or earlier. He said it’s to maintain the Tsarina’s dignity. What we’re getting are new models.”

İnönü’s words somewhat reassured Atatürk.

Using the conflict between Turkey and the Kurds as a weapons testing ground is a bit malicious, but at least they’re sending new models to our side. The Kurds probably already have some older models too. Is that why they mentioned medical personnel?

“Fine. That works too. How much weaponry have they provided?”

The weapons support is probably minimal, just for show.

It’s humiliating that Russia is helping with the Kurdish issue in the first place, but what’s their situation?

“They sent new Fedorov automatic rifles, tanks, and aircraft, saying the Kurds dared to exploit the Tsarina’s authority and should be firmly dealt with.”

“Tanks and aircraft? And they sent outdated weapons and medical personnel to the other side? Huh, so she still wants to play the role of a saint.”

“Yes, it seems so.”

Weapons for the Turkish National Government, and only medical personnel for the Kurds who want independence. This feels like being manipulated by Russia, but…

“Avoid attacking areas where Russian medical personnel are present. There have been recent monarchist rebellions too, so we need to firmly suppress them. I’ll go personally. You should attend the Moscow Anti-Comintern Pact meeting.”

“Of course. I’ll mobilize the National Army immediately.”

Atatürk advanced to Mount Ararat, where the Kurds had established their position, leading troops personally to see Russia’s new weapons.

Meanwhile, İhsan Nuri Pasha and Biroyê Heskî Têlî, who had hoped for Russian support, were grateful but disappointed with Russia’s weapons and medical personnel support.

Honestly, they had expected combat troops.

If Russia had established Pontic Greece claiming to reclaim Eastern Roman lands, why would they pass up this opportunity?

It would have been the perfect pretext.

“They say combat troop support is impossible. Russia has fought many wars and lacks the capacity, they say.”

“Hmm. That’s disappointing.”

With so many troops, how can they lack the capacity for war?

This means the Russian Tsarina is siding with Turkey, not the Kurds.

The weapon support must be out of consideration for their circumstances.

“Still, isn’t it fortunate they provided weapons? We tried to exploit the Tsarina by mentioning her, so we should be grateful for this much.”

True, having received weapons, we can’t expect too much.

We just took a shot in the dark without any real expectations.

It would be different if the Great War victors had guaranteed the establishment of Kurdistan as promised.

“It can’t be helped.”

“Even so, the Turks cannot stop our will for independence!”

İhsan Nuri Pasha strengthened his resolve.

The arrow had already left the bow.

Seeing Russia’s intervention in the Turkish War of Independence and Atatürk’s submission, he quickly rallied the Kurds and rose up.

There was no turning back now.

“İhsan Nuri Pasha! The Turks have mobilized their forces!”

“So it has come to this?”

İhsan Nuri Pasha rose abruptly from his seat.

Despite the clear difference in military power, he had no intention of giving up.

If not now, when would they be able to raise the fervor for independence again?

Now, while Turkey was in turmoil with monarchist and anti-secularist issues, was truly their opportunity.

He would never stop, even at the cost of his life.

And then…

Whoosh! Boom! Boom!

Turkish forces began bombing Mount Ararat using bombers provided by Russia, while Turkish infantry followed behind tanks advancing from the base of the mountain.

“What is that?”

“Our weapons have no effect on those tanks!”

“Damn it.”

“Where did all those weapons come from?”

While they could somehow deal with Turkish infantry, there was absolutely no way to handle the bombers.

In an era without proper anti-aircraft guns, the Kurds at Mount Ararat, surviving without international support, were grateful just to have machine guns.

In such a situation, bombers were the worst nightmare for the Kurds on Mount Ararat.

“Turkish forces are coming from all directions!”

“Damn it, let’s fight and see!”

The Kurdish independence war initiated by İhsan Nuri Pasha and Biroyê Heskî Têlî began to collapse helplessly before the Turkish National Army, armed with Atatürk’s intense determination not to lose Kurdistan.

Unlike actual history, they were crushed by Atatürk’s army before establishing a country on Mount Ararat, and were pushed back to resist from the edge of the mountain.

Of course, it wouldn’t be accurate to say the Turkish army completely suppressed the Kurds.

Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat

The machine guns installed on the mountaintop were overwhelming.

Unfortunately, these were leftovers from what the Russian army had provided to Chen Jiongming.

Although the Kurds were scattered and unable to establish a country, Atatürk left the remaining Kurdish rebel forces to the troops he had dispatched to the area and returned to Ankara.

However…

“Isn’t having machine guns on the mountain a bit too much?”

“Tanks can’t go up the mountain!”

“Try proper bombing at least!”

Unexpectedly, the battle in the mountainous region of Mount Ararat continued for a long time.